The Fiery Trial
by Izzu
Summary: Localised ver. of Trial on Fire. Miles Edgeworth was pulled into another case full of unexplained mysteries. To solve the mystery of the murder, he and Apollo have to work together to prove the client's innocence.
1. Prologue: Unsuspected Call

az: This would be the localised version of Trial on Fire. I'll be changing the title slightly just to differentiate it with Trial on Fire. Because truthfully, I can convert this to AA version regardless of my past excuse. XD. Give me a bit of time. I'll try changing more of the details aside from names and locations to add variety. Give me time. Yet, I probably won't be posting so constantly.

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><p><span>The Fiery Trial<span>

Prologue: Unexpected Call

by Izumi Ishtar alias izzu

o

o

A familiar tune pulled him back from his deep slumber as Miles Edgeworth groggily opened his eyes and blindly searched for his phone in the darkness. As he grabbed it, he flicked it open and placed the phone near his ear.

"Hello—?" he said as the familiar buzzing in his head started to clear.

"Edgeworth?"

He blinked. Suddenly, a slight feeling of déjà-vu hit him.

Normally, when called during these wee hours and finding out that the caller had been either of his two friends; he would have certainly flip out and shout at them for waking him up from his needed rest. After all, Larry had most often sent him plenty of false alarms and causing him to fly across the globe to find the matter to be not so distressing. Phoenix on the other hand, more often than not tends to drag him into some _nefarious_ plans regarding the judicial system without allowing him any choice to refuse the request.

Whenever this happened, he would in one way or another regret his decision but would still help his friend out. However, those request are all related to Phoenix wanting to seek his own justice and as far as he remembered, that case was already settled. Phoenix would have no reason to call on him so suddenly, especially this late.

Somehow, he felt that this was no normal prank call. Knowing him now with his tendency to shoot out lame jokes. An unfamiliar dread started to well into his gut. Dread?

"Wright? Are you all..._ right_? You're not one to call me up so sudden—" he asked, unsure as why his own voice shook.

"Edgey... sorry to put this unto you..."

Phoenix spoke straight to the point. No greetings, no initial ramblings... nothing. For some reason, Miles felt even more unnerved.

"Listen. The case... not like what it seemed... my client... please... help her!"

He frowned.

"Wright? What—what're you talking about? Hey? Are you still there?"

"..."

Somehow that feeling in his gut became more intense. Something was certainly wrong and it was not just inside his head. If this was a prank, well... he found it hard to believe. Phoenix was supposed to grow out of his hobo-ness anyway and this was not how he should have behaved. And this was a bit different than the usual prank he likes to pull on him. That guy had a certain style to his pranks after all.

"Wright! Are you there? Talk to me!"

Again there was silence. Miles could help feeling even more uneasy.

"Where are you now?" he asked as the other side remained silent. And his feelings of dread immediately changed into a sense of urgency. This was no time to lie on the bed and do nothing!

Miles ended the call right away without waiting for any other response from the other side. He got off the bed clumsily before entering the bathroom in a hurry to wash his face and get himself changed. Few minutes later, he stormed out of his house and drove his car out into the streets. Placing the earphone on his ears, he started dialing Wright's apartment number as the car sped into the highway.

As the ringing tone clicked, he heaved a sigh of relief as he heard another voice answering the call.

"**...hello? Apollo here—"**

"Apollo, this is Prosecutor Edgeworth. Is Wright at home?" he asked right away, not waiting for the other person to finish talking.

"**Ah, Mr. Edgeworth! Err... no. Mr. Wright was still at the office, ironing out some of the last minute report for tomorrow's case. Is there something you need to—?"**

"Apollo, earlier... have you been receiving any calls from him?"

Apollo sounded confused before laughing nervously.

"**Uh, maybe, I guess? I'm not sure. Trucy and I had gone out shopping earlier..." **he explained.** "We've just happened to have just arrived home, so if there was any calls coming... well—we were supposed to wait for him for dinner but he haven't returned our calls. He might not have left the place as of yet."**

Miles snorted impatiently as his thought hovered back towards Phoenix's earlier call.

"The office... is it? Is there something he needed to do over there?"

**"Huh? Err, no. It just happened that there was something he forgot to take from the office so he went back to get it. Why... did something happen?"**

Miles bit his lips as he paused. There was no need to alarm them yet for something that he did not confirmed himself.

"Err, nothing. I'll call you back later. There's something else that I needed to make sure first." he said as he ended the call.

Perhaps he had been overreacting a bit here but he did not want to regret not doing something if his suspiciouns had been true. If something had happened to Phoenix, he would not be able to forgive himself for it.

After all, Phoenix had called _him_. For his help... most definitely.

Phoenix had helped him in the past to clear him of suspicions of murder even when he had refused the help initially. Sure, since then both of them have helped each other a lot in court and in life but that does not mean that the thing between them would be over once the debt of gratitude was paid. They were friends and still are. In addition, if it were true that Phoenix was in such grave danger and in need of help, he would not be so sparing as to not offer the needed help. But hopefully, it was not needed. He did not want to think of what he would do if something did happen to this old friend.

He turned left as the car entered the road that headed towards Wright's office. To his disdain, there was a single patrol car parked nearby the office. An officer, standing not far from his car; was seen talking to a very animated elderly woman. Miles parked his car nearby as he walked out of the car.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked as he reached them.

The officer turned towards him as the man sighed exasperatedly.

"Nothing important, sir. Just a false alarm. This lady here mistook a prank by some kids to be real. I'm sorry if you had been troubled because of it... Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth." said the officer as he gave him a look of recognition.

Miles waved him off as he turned his attention towards the old lady.

"It might be... it might be not. May I know what the matter was about...? Madam?"

The old lady leered at him as she explained again.

"That's what I'm telling this officer, young man! I know I may be an old lady but I know what I have heard! It was a gunshot, you hear me? Not some hillbilly of a prank like this officer said it could be. Sure, there were some kids in the neighbourhood playing pranks and setting off fireworks lately here... but I know the difference between firecrackers and gunshots!"

"There's a chance that you might be mistaken, Ma'am. Here sir, I found this at the alley nearby—" said the officer as he showed the burnt pieces to Miles.

"Hmm..." Miles frowned as he examined the burnt residue.

Some of the paper casings were still intact and it did appear to have been lighted previously. Still, he felt that there was something was amiss. He could not smell any hint of sulphur in the air, any evidence that some firecrackers had been set off recently. Even if it has been more than a few hours since the incident occurred; traces of sulphur in the air could not have disappeared so fast if there were crackers lighted in the area prior. Because if what the lady had heard was true... he feared that it was not just a simple false alarm.

"Madam, did you remembered when was it that you heard the gunshot sound? Or the cracker sound–whichever it was for real." he added as the officer gave him a look.

The woman's eyes shifted as she tried to remember the details before answering.

"I think it was about two hours ago. I was watching my favourite oriental drama series around that time when I heard the noise. I can't be mistaken!"

"Are you sure? Are you sure it didn't come from something else... or even from the TV?" chided the officer again as the old lady exclaimed in protest.

"Of course I am sure! It was _very loud_! People around here don't turn their volumes so loud!"

"Two hours ago?" he mused loudly as he frowned. Two hours ago would be around the same time when he had received Phoenix's call. It could not just be a coincidence!

He sighed.

"Officer... A. Heid. I know that this may sound strange now but I would like you to take this woman inside her home and write down her statement; including what you've just found at the alley. Madam, I would also like you to tell everything you've heard in detail to this officer. I'll excuse myself for a while..."

"Sir, where are you going?" asked the officer as he was about to leave.

"I'm checking up on something. Hopefully this was just a misunderstanding—" he said hurriedly as he ran up the stairs leading to Wright's Anything Agency.

xxx

His hands hovered over the door knob as he hesitated. It had been like almost eleven years since he had entered this place to find the body of Mia Fey; lying motionless in her office. Since then, he had dreaded walking into this place with or without any reason. He was not one to believe in anything occult-like but with everything that he had seen since, he could not deny the possibility. This place had given him a sort of uneasy feeling every time he came to visit, as if the office itself had drawn in all of the darkness in this world and brings misfortune to anyone occupying it. Mia Fey had lost her life in this office; Phoenix kept getting himself into hopeless cases and eventually was disbarred. It was as if this office brought him and his former mentor nothing but bad karma.

Nevertheless, it was not like only bad things ever happen to him, he should not be superstitious so suddenly. Moreover, worrying over nothing over here was not getting him anywhere; the office would probably be closed by now. Miles shook his head as he twisted the door knob.

He could barely hold his breath when he found out that the door was unlocked. His heart thumped rapidly, his anxiety reaching up the limit. Wait... he should calm himself down. Phoenix might have forgotten to lock his door when he was coming in and he probably was still inside...

... but the office was dark.

Who on earth would stay in this pitch black place like this, doing absolutely nothing? His nose immediately caught a smell that he did not hope to get as he entered the office.

The coppery smell of blood, the smell of death...

"Wright!" he cried as he dashed towards the office room only to confirm his nagging suspicions. Books cluttered everywhere; Trucy's props as well as the random thing around the room had been thrown all over. It looked as if the office have been ransacked! Feeling the sense of urgency again, he hurried towards the smaller room.

To his horror, he found a fallen figure in the room; unmoving, almost at the same spot where Ms. Fey had lost her life prior.

He shakily stumbled onto his fallen friend as he lifted his body up. Phoenix's shirt was wet with his own blood and they were still fresh. Miles hesitated before checking his pulse to see if he had kicked the bucket. To his relief, Phoenix was still alive... barely. His eyes immediately darted towards the cell phone lying nearby.

Several spots of blood could be seen on some of the keypads on the phone. Phoenix probably put his number on speed dial. Can he say it was luck? If he was still living abroad, it might have been too late. Phoenix would have died before help could come!

Soft footsteps could be heard approaching the room as the officer from earlier poked his head into the room.

"Err... Sir? Is there anything I could—?"

Realization snapped him back to life as Miles turned towards the voice.

"Hurry! Call for backups! And ambulance! Someone had been shot!"

The officer was taken aback before noticing the fallen attorney as he ran out to get help. Miles turned his attention back towards his fallen friend as he tapped him softly on his cheeks.

"Wright... Phoenix Wright! God help me please be alive!"

After a few nudge, Phoenix's eyes slowly opened. Miles let out a sigh of relief.

"You all right, Wright? I'm here..."

For some reason Phoenix started to giggle. He hissed at him for trying to make light of his situation just because he had made a bad pun. Miles turned his attention towards the door.

_Damn... where did that officer went? Calling for ambulance and backup can't take that long... can it?_

Miles pulled out his cravat as he used it to stop the blood from gushing even more. Noticing the entry wound on his chest, he was glad that the shot missed Phoenix's heart entirely. But still, this wound—he really hoped that he did not lose too much blood. He prayed repeatedly for the ambulance to come faster.

His prayers were answered thirty minutes later as he could hear the sound of sirens coming towards the place. Moments after that, the officer reappeared with paramedics as they carried Phoenix out of the office to get him to the nearest hospital...


	2. Chapter 1: A Different Course of Action

The Fiery Trial

Chapter 1: A Different Course of Action

by Izumi Ishtar alias izzu

o

o

Miles heaved a long sigh as he took an overall look around the office aka crime scene.

_This will get messy,_ he thought to himself as he glanced at the folders on the desk. Wonder what Phoenix was doing, looking at his old cases until not noticing the unknown assailant approaching him. His ears caught the sound of someone walking by as he recognized the presence.

"Mr. Edgeworth, I'm here already. Is there anything I can help?"

Miiles turned towards the man as Detective Gumshoe flashed him a smug smile. He shrugged.

"You do seemed to like barging into cases that suits your fancy, don't you?"

The man grinned.

"I heard the news on the wire and got on the case right away. There's no way that I would not get help out on this. I don't want some other no-name detectives messing with this case and let the culprit free! So is it true? Is Wright—"

"Wright should be all right... ignore that pun. Did you hear anything from Ema?"

Gumshoe gave him a puzzled look before letting out a sigh.

"She's on her way. She's a bit busy with tomorrow's trial. Want me to urge her to come here faster?"

Miles shook his head.

"No. Let her concentrate for tomorrow's case. I'll be expecting both of you to send me every information about this case by tomorrow. For now, you should be enough. Have the people look around for any other clue about this incident."

The detective frowned.

"Is there something bothering you, pal?"

"Everything that's happening right now is bothering me, Gumshoe. I suspect this attack was not just a random attack. I had a suspicion that this has something to do with the new case Wright was handling..."

"Wright's case? You mean the one Miss Skye was busy with?"

Miles gave him a look-down as the detective recoiled.

"Wright was in charge of the defense. We happened to talk about it a few days ago, considering that this would be the first case that he would be handling since he reacquired his bar. I never expected that this would happen to him the night before the trial."

"Before that... erm, Mr. Edgeworth sir. How come you manage to arrive here so fast—?"

He snorted.

"Gumshoe, unless you wanted to survive on your sparce amount of salary... don't ask me such stupidity again. Wright called me when it happened. Now do your work! I have something else to attend to," he said sternly as he walked out of the room to get some air.

"Ah... right!" exclaimed the detective as he hastily looked around among the scattered objects to look for clues. As he gathered the bloodied phone and some shattered remains, he looked over towards the prosecutor as the man started grumbling aloud.

xxx

October 24, 9.45 AM, District Court, Defendant Lobby 2. Trial Day One.

"Sorry sir... today's trial have been postponed till half an hour later." said the bailiff as Trucy and Apollo arrived. Both of them excused themselves as they waited at the waiting area.

"Ahh! So many things to do..." Apollo groaned as he flipped open the folders that he had been holding.

"—where is Mr. Wight? Why did I have to suddenly take over this—I've just finished a case trial a few days ago and now I had to run another one in the same week! What troublesome luck—"

"Chin up, Polly! Daddy also used to get these kinds of days... think of it as practice!"

Apollo leered towards the girl.

"Trucy, your dad was the one pushing this case on me. He was supposed to be the one handling this, you know?"

"Ah, well..."

"Hmmm... I didn't expect to see you guys today. Hello there mein fraulein... hi there, Herr Forehead!"

Apollo gritted his teeth at the sound of that voice as he turned around to greet the said person. The man was smiling as he sauntered towards them.

Klavier Gavin. Prosecutor-at-law and former lead singer of the rock band group, Gavinners and the only one person who would still call him names just to jeer at his big forehead. Due to an incident almost a year ago, the group have been disbanded due to the involvement of one of its member in a smuggling and murder case. How he despised seeing his face. Regardless of what had happened between them, the fact that Klavier still maintained this little habit of his made him feel very annoyed every time the man opened his mouth.

Apollo glanced at him blankly as he greeted him casually.

"Err... good morning to you too, Prosecutor Gavin. Fancy meeting you so early. Are you the prosecutor for today's case, I—"

The young man flashed a smile towards Trucy before frowning back at him.

"Nope. I mean... I used to be the prosecutor for this case but now I'm not. I've been removed from handling this case so there would be some one else replacing me, doesn't seem they want me to handle this. I just came here to watch you guys, though I was expecting to see the big man instead."

Both Trucy and Apollo frowned at this.

"Removed? W-why? And... daddy cannot come today—" said Trucy hesitantly as Klavier shrugged.

"—did something happen? Have you done something bad or—" Apollo started to say as Klavier cut him off.

"Nein... nein, of course not! Who did you think I am? And what about you two? I thought the defense this time would be that legendary man. Why did you take over the case instead? Where's Herr Wright?"

Apollo frowned as he scratched the back of his head.

"I... I don't know. I've received a call last night saying that I should take over the case and read up on everything for today's defense. It was so sudden but the tone of Mr. Edgeworth's voice had been urgent so I didn't have time to refuse. And Mr. Wright had not returned home last night so we had no clue on what was going on. He also forbid us to go to the office and just head straight to the courthouse right away. Do you... know anything about this?"

Now the frown returned to Klavier's forehead as he pondered over this explanation.

"Weird... he said that to you? That doesn't make any sense! But then again... the one who ordered my removal was Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth as well!" he exclaimed in return.

Apollo gave a cry.

"Huh? That's... strange—today's trial had been postponed as well but why—? All of this can't be a coincidental!"

"Everything would be explained later. For now, you have to do your job in place of Wright. Miles will take over for the rest on this case's proceedings but for now, I'll be standing as the prosecutor today."

The three of them jumped as they turned around towards this new voice. Trucy gave a cry of delight as she recognized the person.

"Miss von Karma!" cried the girl as Franziska von Karma smiled bitterly towards her.

"Miss von Karma? Why—why are you handling this case? Do you know what happened to Mr. Wright? What—"

The young woman placed a hand on Trucy's shoulder as she turned towards Apollo.

"I'll explain in detail later, Apollo Justice. But for now, we have to settle today's proceeding first. This case is not as simple as it seemed. And Prosecutor Gavin, I deeply apologize for this sudden arrangement. But Miles insisted that he want to handle this case himself to make sure that the case will not end prematurely."

"Is there something wrong, Prosecutor von Karma?" asked Klavier as Franziska turned towards Trucy.

"I'm not sure yet about this... but Trucy, I hope you'd be calm after hearing this. Both of you as well... especially you, Justice; since you're the one who's going to be defending. I hope what I'm telling you right now will not affect how you would handle this case."

The three of them went quiet as Franziska explained.

"Last night, Phoenix Wright had been shot." she said as Trucy gave a cry, "—Miles had another team investigating this incident but we had a suspicion that this was related to the case you're handling. We suspected that culprit doesn't want Wright to handle this case."

"Miss von Karma! Daddy... is daddy all right?" cried Trucy as she started to get teary. Franziska turned towards her to give her comfort.

"Calm down, Trucy. Your father is now in Intensive Care at the moment but he's fine. I'll take you to see him after this. Don't worry too much right now... for sure Wright would—"

"But why? Does it mean that my client was innocent after all? Then why—"

Franziska straightened up as she faced the young man.

"We can't say that for sure. Perhaps your client is indeed innocent but we still had no proof of anyone else who could be the real murderer. So that was your job today. If you could prove that there is a reasonable doubt concerning this case and convince the judge to prolong this case, we may be able to investigate deeper into this case and solve it. I'm sure by then Miles would be able to gather enough evidence to connect these two cases together by tomorrow—"

"But I don't get it. Why attack Herr Wright? This case itself was still too vague. There are too much unexplained details and holes in this case. That was the reason the defendant had been detained. Even if he could bluff his way like he often did anyway, there's no guarantee—"

Franziska cocked her head towards Klavier as she flashed him a smug smile.

"You've forgotten something, Prosecutor Gavin. Phoenix Wright... was not just any lawyer. Even if half the time in court he had been grasping for his case, most of his instincts were almost right on track. That's probably what our unknown assailant's worry most. He feared that Wright would stumble into the truth while investigating this case."

"B-but... I'm not like Mr. Wright, I—"

Franziska glanced back towards Apollo.

"Don't speak foolishness! We wouldn't have picked you to handle this case if you're such a foolish fool who was not as foolish as that foolish man that had taken yo in. We'll talk later about this. The proceeding's starting!" she said again as she stormed out of the room.

Apollo bit his lips as Trucy grasped his arm tightly. He turned to glance at her.

"Don't worry... Polly. You should do well. I trust in your ability." said the girl as he frowned. He almost forgot that the one person who would be more distraught over this case more than himself, would be her. It was her Mr. Wright after all who have been shot.

Apollo nodded weakly.

"Yeah, my bad. Let's get inside... we need to get the case going!"

xxx

October 24, 10.30 AM, District Court, Courtroom No. 9

The atmosphere in the courtroom was as intense as usual. It had just been a few days ago since he had finished resolving a case, he had not expected to be getting another one shortly after that. Not to mention after hearing what Prosecutor von Karma had just told them earlier, Apollo felt as if today's case was going to be another troublesome one.

He looked around among the audience to see Klavier Gavin sitting inconspicuously on the defense side. Apparently, during the short time after they have parted, the man had donned some sort of disguise so that his fans would not be able to recognize him. Although the disguise was not all that great, he wondered why such a weak attempt could still fool the lot of his fans that came for today's case. Apollo also could not help noticing that most of the fangirls that came to the trial were now subdued due to the lack of presence of the famed rock-star prosecutor, or so it seemed. Such occurrence was rare in his experience as a lawyer to date and Apollo found it hard to get used to this.

The courtroom quieted down immediately as the judge entered and assumed his post. After the formal announcement for the court to proceed, the judge calmly slammed his gavel down as the judge spoke.

"The court is now in session for the trial of Ms. Sweetie Gael."

"The prosecution is ready, Your Honor." said Prosecutor von Karma briefly.

"The defense is ready, Your Honor." said Apollo as well.

The judge gave out a surprised cry.

"Eh, I was not informed of this change! Wasn't this case supposed to be handled by attorney-at-law, Mr. Phoeni Wright and Prosecutor Gavin—?"

SNAP!

Apollo gave a start a he watch the judge get whipped by the female prosecutor.

"It's foolish to be answering a foolish question at the start of the day. There's been an accident befalling Phoenix Wright prior to today. In light of this new development, the District Prosecutor's Office decided that this incident needed to be handled more carefully thus the reason for Prosecutor Gavin's replacement. Starting from tomorrow, this case would be handled by the acting Chief Prosecutor at the moment, Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth."

The judge blinked.

"B-but... right now the one standing at the prosecutor's bench was you, Prosecutor vom Kar—!"

Another whiplash hit the judge as Franziska appeared agitated.

"I'm standing in for Prosecutor Edgeworth today. He could not attend to today's proceeding as he had another investigation underway. Was that explanation enough for you, Your Honor?"

The judge blinked again before replying, "A-ah, very well. Miss von Karma, please give the court your opening statement."

"Thank you, Your Honor." said Franziska promptly and she took out a file from her folders.

"The defendant, Ms. Sweetie Gael, was the only person at the scene of the crime when the eyewitnesses found them and called the police. There weren't any evidence of any other suspect aside from the defendant thus the prosecution can safely assume that defendant was indeed the murderer. Therefore, the prosecution sees no reason to doubt the facts of this case, Your Honor."

"I see. Thank you, Miss von Karma. Let's begin then, you may call your first witness."

Franziska made a slight bow.

"The prosecution calls the chief investigator at the scene, Detective Ema Skye." said Franziska as the crowd around him started to settle down into a whisper.

Within a few minutes, Detective Skye entered the courtroom and stood before the witness stand. Seeing the detective appearing calm and not grumpy was quite new to Apollo; having to always be at the mercy of her moodiness. But then again Klavier was not prosecuting on this case thus her having been in a better mood was of no surprise. After all, with the lack of the rock-star prosecutor; the ruckus coming from the rabid fangirls would also be nonexistent.

Anyhow, Apollo's musing stopped abruptly as Franziska began her questioning.

xxx

"Witness, please state your name and profession to the court."

Ema smiled as she nodded towards the prosecutor. Apollo stared at her in wonder. The detective was definitely in a very pleasant mood!

"Yes, of course. My name is Ema Skye, I'm the one in charge for the homicide investigation for this case." said the detective briefly.

"Detective Skye, you may describe the details of your findings to the court regarding the murder."

"Very well, let me use this floor plan to explain. The victim had been found here at the centre hall of her mansion—" she said as she pointed on the display panel. "The victim had been shot once to the chest and hit the heart squarely. That was the main cause of death. We could not find the gun that could be the murder weapon but we also found a kitchen knife covered with the victim's blood nearby. We've also found that the victim also sustained several cut marks in her left arm and right shoulder. This is consistent with the evidence that we've obtained."

The judge nodded. "The court accepts this kitchen knife into evidence."

Franziska continued her questioning.

"You've also apprehended the defendant, Ms. Gael on site. Can you explain to the court on why did you made the arrest?" she asked again as Ema replied.

"We've found decisive evidence that could connect the defendant to this murder. There is no doubt about it, the defendant is the killer."

His heart sank as Apollo listened attentively to the testimony. This case was definitely going to be like those numerous case that he handled in the past. No doubt about it. This was going to be another bumpy ride for him, that's for sure. This case was perhaps the first case so far that he had taken where he had nothing else to go by aside from the files he acquired from Phoenix. Suddenly he thought about the last case Phoenix had taken that cost him his badge and reputation, all because he had been careless about one piece of evidence. Would the same thing happen to him?

Ah, as the thought passed his mind the knot inside his stomach started to tighten. He should remind himself to not be careless. Yes, he should do that.

Silently, Apollo prayed.

He prayed that nothing bad would happen today. Hopefully, nothing will.


	3. Chapter 2: Bumpy Ride

az: And as I did this localisation... I ended up doing another revision of the original. Ha!

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><p><span>The Fiery Trial<span>

Chapter 2: Bumpy Ride

by Izumi Ishtar alias izzu

o

o

"_We've found decisive evidence that could connect the defendant to this murder. There is no doubt about it, the defendant is the killer."_

The judge acknowledged the statement as the old man appeared thoughtful. Apollo gritted his teeth.

"Hmm... Detective Skye, please testify to the court about this decisive evidence."

Ema nodded.

"My pleasure, Your Honor." she said as she continued.

"When we received the call, we immediately rushed to the scene. The two people who had found the victim greeted us in front of the mansion and showed us towards the scene of the crime. Then as we reached the hall, we've found the victim lying on the floor; covered in her own blood. The defendant had been standing near the victim as if in a daze. After an autopsy had been done to the victim, it was estimated that the victim had been killed at least four hours prior to when the body has been found."

"Although we could not find the main murder weapon, we had run analysis on the kitchen knife that was found on the crime scene and managed to recover a set of clear fingerprints. The fingerprints found on the knife _matched_ the defendant's fingerprint _perfectly_. That is our _decisive evidence_!"

"Thank you, detective. Mr. Justice... you may begin your cross-examination." said the judge as Appolo nodded.

"Thank you, Your Honor," he said shakily as he turned to see Franziska watching his sternly.

"Man... talk about upping the pressure..." he said softly so that only Trucy could hear him. Suddenly he felt his confidence wearing out of him. Ema's testimony looked like it's going to be hard to break. Is there anywhere that he could find his contradictions?

"Don't fret. There must be something you can dig ou-"

"Yeaooowch!" Apollo exclaimed as Franziska's whip hit him. _Man... that_ _whip could really reach so far!_

Franziska glared at him impatiently. "Your cross-examination... now!"

"Yes madam!" Apollo whimpered as Trucy gave him a pitying look. He should really watch his step. Mr. Wright was not kidding about Franziska's personality. That whip looked more formidable than Ema's snackoo attack!

xxx

Apollo took a peek on Ema's statement as he begin.

"Detective Skye, how long did you take to arrive to the scene after-!" He cried out as the whip hit his face.

"The prosecution requests that the defense do not waste time asking foolish questions!"

Apollo hastilly apologised as he changed his tactics.

"Be carefull, Polly!" Trucy reminded him.

Apollo nodded. So he would not be allowed to press on all of Ema's statements, eh? Miss von Karma is a strict customer...

Apollo took another read over the transcript containing Ema's statements. If he had remembered it correctly, Mr. Wright had told him something his mentor used to say. Even if your witness was on the stands, they still do have a tendency to lie on their statement. Even if they did not, the witness might have forgotten to tell certain things while taking the stand. That was a kind of contradiction as well, and is a way for him to gather more information about the case. Come to think... he didn't have any chance to talk to his client. He had been handed this case at the last minute after all...

So that means gathering more information was the only thing he can do right now.

"Err... Detective Skye, can you describe the conditions of the victim when you have found her in more detail?"

Ema grinned. "Sure! That's my job after all!" She coughed.

"When we found the victim on the day of the murder, the victim was lying just a few feet from the stairs. She was already dead by then; the shot at point blank range onto her heart made it certain. We managed to extract the bullet from the heart, it matched with a standard .40 calibre handgun bullet."

The judge nodded again.

"The court accepts this bullet into evidence."

Franziska shrugs. "Detective, you may continue..."

Apollo interrupted them. "What about the defendant? Was my client really found in a daze?"

Ema nodded. "Correct. When we arrived to the scene, the defendant had been standing not so far from where the victim lies. We found a kitchen knife lying several steps away from where the defendant was standing; underneath a long chair. Originally, we only decided to detain the defendant for questioning but further evidence found led us to arresting her as the culprit."

"Hold it!" Apollo exclaimed. "Why is this kitchen knife taken into evidence? Wasn't the victim died from a gunshot?"

Ema frowned towards his direction as she spoke.

"Of course the victim died from a gunshot! But we also found both the victim's and defendant's fingerprint on the knife and we matched the blood on the knife with the victim's. The victim also had evidence of being attacked by the knife as well. So even if the knife was not the primary murder weapon, it was still a murder weapon."

"But isn't it strange? You guys managed to find the knife so easily but there was no sign of the gun, the real murder weapon. If my client was really the murderer, she shouldn't have allowed such things to be easily found. Couldn't it be possible that there was someone else besides my client who could have been the murderer?"

Ema frowned as she pondered over Apollo's words.

"I guess you can say that was possible, but so far we could not find any other evidence other than the defendant and the victim in the house at the time of the murder."

Apollo frowned. "One last thing, this autopsy report says that the estimated time of death was about four hours prior to when the body was found. In her testimony, Miss Gael said she had only arrived there around 11.00 in the morning. The real murderer could have gone away from the place long before Miss Itou arrived and found the victim!"

Ema gave him a patronising look.

"Unfortunately, your client could not provide a valid alibi to prove that fact. So I'm sorry, Apollo. Your client was still a suspect."

Apollo bit his lips again. In the end, he was back to square one. They still did not have any solid evidence to turn the case around.

The judge nodded. "You may step down, Detective Skye. That concludes our first cross-examination for the day; the court will have a ten minute recess after this. The prosecution will call upon their next witness when the session resumes."

The judge slammed his gavel twice, signaling the end of the first cross-examination. Ema stepped down from the stand as Franziska started to leave. The rest of the audience began moving out as Apollo ushered Trucy to go out.

"Let's go see our client!"

xxx

Trucy elbowed Apollo as he started to cough badly.

"Polly... don't get tongue-tied at this time!"

Apollo blinked. "Ah! Right. Don't blame me... she's so much like Vera Misham I didn't know how to approach her!" he hissed at Trucy before turning to the girl. "Umm... you're Miss Sweetie Gael, right?"

The shy-looking girl nodded.

"Y-yeah... you're... my new lawyer, isn't it? Is Mr. Wright okay?"

Apollo smiled weakly. "Hopefully yes. Sorry to say this, but I did recieved this case without warning. I didn't have that much knowledge about the case. So what about that kitchen knife? How did you get your prints on it?"

Miss Gael bit her lips before answering.

"Uhh... I guess I was in shock. I've received a call to come to Miss Kyll's mansion to discuss about my script. But when I arrived, the door was open... and I saw her lying on the floor all bloodied! I saw the knife nearby... and without thinking I just picked it up."

"Hmm..." hummed Apollo to himself as Miss Gael started fidgeting with her hands again.

"You believed me right? I didn't kill her! Miss Kyll... Miss Celestia Kyll was like a mentor to me! How could—Mr. Wright believed that I didn't kill her. Did you as well? I—"

"Calm down, Miss Gael! Of course Polly believed you, right?" said Trucy as she turned towards him.

Apollo nodded hastily. "O—of course! Of course I do! Umm... just now, you're saying about a script?"

The frown on Miss Gael's face immediately changed into a smile.

"Yes! I am an actress after all! Still new to this business but still am one."

"Oh, no wonder those names had sounded familiar," said Apollo before noticing the time, "Oh dear, time almost up. We need to get back inside! Err Miss Gael—?"

"Yes?"

"I'm also a bit new in this law business. Unlike Mr. Wright, I'm still lacking in experience. But now I'm being entrusted with your defense... so I will do my best to defend you. Just like how Mr. Wright would do. So I hope you will trust me."

Miss Gael smiled again.

"Thank you. If Mr. Wright believed in your ability, then I'll put my trust in you as well," she said as all of them headed to the courtroom.

"Oh wait!"

The girl turned around in confusion as Apollo stuttered.

"Did you remembered what time you arrived at Miss Kyll's place?"

The girl blinked.

"Ah, around 11.15 AM in the morning, I remembered driving out from the house at 10.30. The director's house was about half an hour from my house and there was a traffic jam on the way there. I remembered spending about ten minutes on the highway before entering the housing area where the mansion is."

"Thank you." said Apollo as they parted.

xxx

The judge glanced around him as he watched everyone settling down in their place. After everything had quiet down, he slammed his gavel down.

"The court will now resume. Prosecutor von Karma, you may now call upon your next witness."

Franziska bowed gracefully.

"That will be my pleasure, Your Honor." she said as she rose. "The prosecution will now call Mr. Drake Reverier to the stands!"

The crowd behind him started murmuring again as Apollo looked up towards the new witness. Mr. Drake was a tall man with a lean build. He also has an air of confidence about him and he appeared very calm.

"Witness, state your name and profession to the court," said Franziska again for the second time in the day.

"Drake Reverier, I'm working as a script supervisor and producer under Gemstone Studios."

"Thank you. Mr. Reverier, what was your relationship with the victim as well as the defendant, Miss Sweetie Gael?"

Mr. Reverier cleared his throat.

"Celestia Kyll was one of my closest friends. She had also worked under Gemstone with me as a scriptwriter as well as a director. Miss Gael on the other hand... was one of the casts for our current production, Mystery Girl. Celestia and I were part of the crew for this movie."

Franziska nodded as she flipped open another note. "Very well, thank you for your statement. Mr. Reverier, you were one of the two witnesses who found the victim dead in her mansion. Please testify to the court as to what you have witnessed."

"Very well." said the man as Apollo braced for the next testimony.

"At the morning of the murder I was still working at my office. Around 9.30 in the morning, I've received a call from one of the main casts from the production, Luna Frost. There seemed to be a bit of transportation problem for the actress so I had offered to drive to her place to pick her up. As Celestia lived nearby, we've decided to pick her up as well; my staff back at the office told me she still haven't arrived to the office. We didn't expect to find both Sweetie and Celestia at the mansion with Celestia being dead. We rushed out to call the police to report the incident. But I tell you, this must be a mistake! Miss Gael can't possibly be the murderer! There must be some explanation to this!"

"Thank you, Mr. Reverier," said the judge as he turned towards Apollo. "You may begin your cross-examination, Mr. Justice."

"Thank you, Your Honor," said Apollo before turning his attention towards Mr. Reverier.

"Mr. Reverier, how long is it for you to drive from your workplace to Miss Luna Frost's house?"

The man shrugged. "About an hour's drive or so... but there's a traffic jam that morning near that area. So I only reached her house around 11.10 AM in the morning. Celestia's house was about five minute's drive from Luna's."

"Can you tell us more about this problem Miss Frost had?"

Mr. Reverier nodded.

"Luna had a slight car trouble. Her car won't run, something about the spark plug being broken. It'll be some time for the mechanic to come so I decided to come pick her up."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Apollo again.

The man shrugged. "Sure, I've taken a look at the engine. Since we didn't have a lot of time to spare, I decided to handle it later and go straight to Celestia's. I might not know much about repairing cars... but at least I know some basic stuff."

"Okay..." said Apollo as he skimmed again at his testimony. "Can you describe the situation when you first found Miss Gael?"

The man looked at him in confusion before replying.

"Well, when we arrived at Celestia's mansion... we tried ringing the bells. But then nobody answered so we tried knocking. It was then when we found out that the door was unlocked and entered the house. We hadn't expected to see the scene before our eyes. I right away called for the police."

"How long did it take for the police to arrive? Did you watch Miss Gael during that time?" Apollo asked again as the man answered.

"About fifteen minutes. Yes, during that time I have her on my sight."

"What's her condition at that time? Did she made a move or anything? Did she tried to do anything... like throwing something—"

Trucy hurriedly nudged him as Apollo looked back at her. "What?"

"Polly... I don't think this line of questioning could be good..."

"Trust me on this... Trucy—", he hissed back before turning back towards the witness. "Mr. Reverier, can you please answer that?"

The judge frowned.

"My Justice, I don't see where you are going from this."

"Your Honor, I just wanted to prove that my client might not be the only one who had first arrived to the scene of murder!"

The judge blinked as he looked towards the prosecution side. "Err... Prosecutor von Karma, do you want to object—"

"I don't see what's wrong with the defense's move. The truth will always prevail at the end of the day!" she answered with a shrug.

The judge slowly nodded. "Very well, you can continue your line of questioning. You may answer that question, Mr. Reverier."

"Umm... well, Sweetie just stood there. It's as if she was shocked to the point that she couldn't response to anything. I had Luna watch over at the entrance for the arrival of the police while I tried to get her to talk about what happened. It's like... she has seen a ghost!"

Odoroki nodded his head.

"Your Honor, Mr. Reverier had stated just now that during the time they had arrived, Miss Gael was still in a daze until the police arrived. Even though the gun was already missing from that time, she made no attempt to do the same with the knife! Such actions could not be logical if Miss Gael had been the culprit! The defense requests an extension of the trial in order for further investigation."

The judge appeared somewhat thoughtful at this statement.

"Hmm... I'd say it is plausible but this is all still a meaningless conjecture. And in this case, there's still the matter about the defendant not having any other solid proof to prove her alibi before the murder. We cannot determine for sure if your client was speaking the truth about the time when she had arrived to the scene. I'm sorry, Mr. Justice but you have not given me enough reason to allow an extension... I will have to announce a verdict right now," said the judge as he started to raise his gavel.

"OBJECTION!"

The judge stuttered as his eyes darted around the court.

"Who... whose voice was that?"

Apollo blinked in surprise as he glanced towards the prosecution desk to see Franziska tapping her arm in frustration. It was SHE who exclaimed objection just now.

The judge blinked in surprise.

"Pr—Prosecutor von Karma! Did you just—"

"Of course I did... Your Honor."

"B-but, you're on the prosecution side!"

Franziska clicked her tongue at the judge.

"Truthfully, the prosecution had to agree with the defense. After hearing some of the defense's unconvincing theories just now, I have to agree that there were still some things we've overlooked. And I had been thinking, if this case was truly simple there was no reason for Phoenix Wright to be assaulted. Thus the prosection would also like to request for an extension."

The judge blinked again. "Oh, I almost forgot about that! Prosecutor von Karma, do you really think that what happened to Mr. Wright has any connection to this case?"

She nodded fervently. "Of course! If this case had been handled by Phoenix Wright, he should have already pointed enough contradictions to warrant another extension for further investigations on the case. At least, even more convincing than that young one did. I also think there were still things left uncovered. Therefore it is too early to determine the verdict to this case."

The judge now appeared dumbfounded as he turned towards Apollo.

"Ah, Mr. Justice... do you also agree to this?"

Apollo grinned nervously. "I—I guess so. I also find the case to be a bit fishy as well. So I umm... agreed with the prosecution. This case still has a lot of things that we do not know. And we still have no motive for the murder. I believe before any verdict is passed, we should first straighten out all of the facts first."

Franziska smirked.

"Finally... something intelligent came out from that large head of yours, kid."

Apollo flinched. "I admit that I missed that bit..." he murmured softly. _And did he just got another prosecutor calling him names solely because of his forehead? Was that the only thing that they had in mind when they see him?_

The judge started humming by himself again.

"Well, considering that both the defense and prosecution expressed the same view, this court will be postponed for the day. The next proceeding will continue tomorrow at the same time."

The judge slammed his gavel loudly as the crowd dispersed.


	4. Chapter 3: Puzzling Predicament

az: Hee... somehow while doing this localization I felt the pressure mounting. XD. Somehow started feeling there are parts from the early chapters that needed rewrite.

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><p><span>The Fiery Trial<span>

Chapter 3: Puzzling Predicament

by Izumi Ishtar alias izzu

o

o

"Whoa... that was a close call! Can't believe we barely made it past the first trial!" Apollo exclaimed aloud as they walked out of the defendant lobby.

"You better buck up, kid. You're lucky that this is a special case else I would not be so generous with the likes of you!"

Apollo and Trucy turned around abruptly to find a very dissatisfied prosecutor. Minuki hastily walked up towards her as she thanked Franziska.

"Thank you very much, Miss von Karma. If you have not supported us earlier, we would have probably lost the case today!"

"Don't thank me... I'm doing this for Miles and Wright. I don't want my little brother's efforts go to waste just because Apollo here couldn't bluff as good as Wright could." she said sternly as she shoved a glare towards Apollo. But as she turned her glance towards Trucy, she noticed that the girl's expressions have become glum. Her gaze softened as she dropped the cold façade.

"Don't make such a sad face now, dear. I'm not that angry with both of you. I'm just saying that both of you shouldn't be so carefree right now. This time, I was here as the opposition and both of us are aiming for the same objective. If there's another case like this in the future, you'd be in trouble if you did not start to step out of that rookie card you're playing. Do you get what I'm saying, Apollo Justice?"

"My thoughts are the same. What Miss von Karma said just now holds water. Just because you've won several cases in the past doesn't mean you get to be careless, ja? I can't always be around to cover your back, Herr Forehead," said Klavier as he suddenly appeared from behind them.

Apollo frowned. Yes, both of them had proved their point and what they have said made sense. But at the moment, he did not feel like having two seasoned prosecutors scolding him at the same time. Especially from Klavier!

"I understand. I should be more careful and more alert from now on. I should have read the case files as much as I could before the trials. If I was more prepared—"

"Well, in this case you can blame my foolish brother for having us run around haphazardly like this. I swear the only other time he had called me over so suddenly to help out on a case trial, was eight years ago. And that also was to help Naruhodou. So you can consider this a special favor."

Apollo smiled weakly, unsure on how to react.

"Err... okay. I guess that should teach me a lesson. Always be prepared, regardless of the initial circumstances when you received a case."

Klavier whistled. "Wise words... I couldn't say more myself. Though, Miss von Karma... this has been bothering me. If it was just to prolong the case and have it be investigated further, then I could have still be able to do the job. After the many case I've handled with Herr Forehead here, I should have proven myself that I could work well with him—"

Franziska turned her glance towards Klavier, her serious expression did not waver. "That was true. But unlike you or pointy-hair here, Miles was more familiar with the way Wright worked his case. That night, Wright did not just happened to call for him to save his life. Wright was actually _asking_ him to help with the case!"

That got both of their attention as Franziska turned towards Apollo.

"Justice, did you remember last night when Miles asked you if Wright has called home?"

Apollo nodded. "Yeah, he did. But as I told him last night, we won't know if that had happened becase both of us were out. The apartment phone cannot keep records of callers after all."

She shrugged. "That's because, Wright really didn't place a call to the apartment. He called on Miles right away, perhaps fearing he haven't got much time to leave any last message. I should say that was a wise decision-especially by him. He did not ended up having that last call as his _actual_ last message."

"Was that the only reason?" Klavier mused aloud as Franziska kept glancing to her wristwatch.

"We'll discuss about this later. Let's go, Miles should be waiting for us at the clinic."

"Oh yeah, Mr. Wright!" Apollo exclaimed as all of them left the court building in a hurry to head to the clinic.

xxx

October 24, 2.30 PM, Hickfield Clinic.

As they entered the clinic, Franziska immediately led the others towards the reception centre as she called for the nurse in charge. After about ten minutes waiting, one of the nurses walked by to attend to them.

"May I help you, Miss?" asked the nurse as she explained.

"We're looking for a patient named Phoenix Wright. He had been admitted here around ten last night. We're families and close friends." she said briefly as the nurse shifted towards the computer to have look up on the patients list.

"I see... Wright... Wri—ah! It's right here! He has been moved to a normal ward. Here's the room number—" said the nurse as she wrote the number on a note and gave it to Franziska. She shoved the note into her pocket before signalling the others to follow her.

Trying to catch up with her stride, Apollo gasped as they finally reached the elevator. "So, Miss von Karma, how can you be so sure that Mr. Wright had called Mr. Edgeworth for a reason?"

She glanced back towards them before giving them a shrug.

"That night, Phoenix Wright had been shot. He must have seen the face of his attacker. In that situation, if he haven't made it that night... the truth would be buried with him and whoever attacked him; as well as the real truth of this case would be lost. Considering this is Phoenix Wright we're talking about, he would not have sit tight and not do anything that could save his client. He would still leave a clue. He should know that best, seeing how many murder cases he has handled in the past. Including the one that involved his own mentor, Mia Fey."

"Might that be something that he left in his office?" Klavier asked as she shook her head.

"Can't be... we've looked all over the office and found nothing. The office was even more messy when we found it last night but after some cleaning up over there, it was better. But we could not find any other clue or any sign of anything has been taken from there."

"Nothing? Not even one?" Apollo asked as Franziska shrugged. "But that's—impossible! Then, what did Mr. Wright went back to the office for? All of the casefiles and data on the case were at the apartment already. That day, he's already brought everything back home for the case. But then a few hours later he went back to office, supposedly checking on something."

The elevator door rang as it opened. The four of them entered and Franziska punched the button for the floor they were heading as the elevator door closed.

"Well, since no one else is going to tell us about that... we'll have to find out ourselves," said Franziska as the three glanced back at her direction again.

"What do you mean?" Apollo asked.

"Don't be so dense. The incident still happened so there must be a reason after all for him to return to office. Unfortunate since at the same time the attacker was waiting for him. But since nothing was taken out, it doesn't seem to be something solid as a decisive evidence. For him to still be attacked, there was be some other reasoning. That's the only other logical explanation."

"What would you think that would be?" Klavier asked as the elevator suddenly opened. A strange looking old person in doctor's labcoat entered the elevator as Franziska frowned at him.

"You're here as well, pervert?" hissed Franziska as the old guy grinned at her, showing off his missing teeth.

"Franny...! Long time no seeing—I mean, surprising to see you here!" exclaimed the old patient who often posed as a the director of the clinic as Franziska snapped her whip threateningly at him.

"And oh... you knew Trucy-doll as well—" drawled the old coot as Franziska rolled her eyes at him. The elevator finally arrived to the floor that they wanted as the door opened. The four of them walked out as 'Director Hickfield' called out towards them.

"Ah... Trucy-doll! You guys are visiting your father, right? Well... say hi to that frowning man for me. I couldn't stay near enough to check on Mr. Wright without the guy scowling at me. And Franny! If you changed your mind after all these time, I won't mind having a get together some ti—"

"Get off already!" hissed Franziska as the elevator door closed again. She sighed as she turned back towards the corridors.

"Hmm... now, it should be around here—"

"Miss von Karma, did you know that uncle just now—" Trucy asked cautiously as the older lady glanced towards her.

"Ah, that pervert. He used to hang out around this old clinic I was once admitted into. That time I had been shot by a suspect and had to be warded for a while. That pervert was a patient there, but always running around with this labcoat and calling himself 'Director Hotti'. I hadn't expected that he would be doing the exact same thing at another clinic after that one had been closed down."

"Had daddy been admitted into that same old clinic as well, Miss von Karma?"

Franziska raised her brow at her on this line of questioning as she shrugged. "Oh, yes. How could I ever forget that. Wright had been admitted after he had fallen off from a burning bridge into a freezing river in the dead of winter. Aside from that, he often had to visit that Hotti Clinic for various other reasons.

Trucy whistled to herself. "So that's why daddy seemed to know that weird uncle when he was admitted here last time. I always wonder why he kept reminding me not to entertain that uncle too much while I'm here."

"And I thought I had weird feelings about the guy..." Apollo said aloud.

"On that line of thought, I think we shouldn't have to worry about Phoenix Wright so much. Regardless how bad a situation was, he had always ended up escaping some dreadfull incidents with just a minor inconvenience. It's ridiculous to see how many times he manage to survive against all that when normal people could have suffered grave injuries..." Franziska shook her head. "As much as I find it ludicrous, I believe your father would be able to live through this. You don't have to worry too much about him, Trucy."

Trucy blinked at her before finally flashing an earnest smile for the first time in the day.

"Thank you, Miss von Karma. You were right. Daddy always have that kind of strange good luck. I believe he'd be fine too!" exclaimed the girl as the prosecutor smiled.

Apollo sighed. The morning's trial was still bothering him. If not because Trucy was there to give him support, if Miss von Karma did not aid him as she did; the outcome of the day could have been serious. Indirectly, that would affect his reputation-Mr. Wright's reputation as well-if he had failed to defend his client this time. What Miss von Karma had said earlier was true. He was still considered to be a rookie in this judicial world of law and order. Even if he had already won some trials in repeat succession and maintained a perfect record, currently; of acquittal in the cases that he have taken, there should be no reason that he could take less regard of his true abilities and not assess himself of the things that he could do or could not. There are still a lot for him to learn of this world and he needed more experience before he could proudly claim himself to be an ace attorney. After all, so far he had manage to make do becase he had always been supported and helped by Trucy and Mr. Wright.

With his current ability... could he achieve a fair verdict for this case as well as for Miss Gael? After today's weak performance, he could not feel the confidence any more.

_I still wanted to learn a lot from you..._

_I wanted to truly become your apprentice..._

Could he... still be able to hold on to that wish? To be able to call himself Mr. Wright's apprentice... did he deserved that right to claim him as a mentor? His mentor? Him... just a single young man with no prominent background, only made slightly special by the presence of his still unexplained, supernatural ability to perceive people.

"—ly!"

He blinked.

"Polly!"

Apollo gasped as Trucy fervently shook his arm to grab his attention. The little girl gave him a look of worry.

"Are you alright, Polly?"

He hastily shook his head.

"O-of course, Trucy! Why did you think I was..." he exclaimed as Trucy stared at him, unconvinced.

"I don't believe you. Or else, why did you space out just now? Is there any problem—"

"No. No... there's nothing. Come on, Gavin and Miss von Karma have already left us far behind!" he exclaimed as he grabbed her hand and ran off to catch up with the others.

xxx

Franziska could not help but let out a hint of laughter as the four of them reached the corridor where Wright's room was situated. They entered the room to find a deeply asleep prosecutor sitting on a small sofa, placed near the bed; various files were laid scattered all over the floors and area. They would not have guessed it before this but Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth sure appeared to have worked as hard as the rest of them had.

She smiled as she walked over towards the man and gently ruffled his hair.

"You've still maintained this bad sleeping habits." she murmured softly as she shook the side of his shoulders. "Wake up, Miles..."

Franziska grinned again as Miles slowly opened his sleepy eyes and let out a long yawn. The man lazily wiped the side of his face with his hand as he greeted the rest of them.

"You're... late." said Miles as he sluggishly raised his arm to look at his wristwatch. "And I've only managed to sleep for an hour. I've been waiting for you guys since the time Ema called to inform me that the trial for day one has ended. You guys sure took your own sweet time."

"Ema called? Isn't she coming here? I missed her at court," Franziska asked as Miles nodded.

"Yes... and she isn't coming here today. I've just told her to meet up with Gumshoe and combine their investigation data together. Might as well as help the old guy with the investigation while I'm catching p with things. We still have a lot of grounds to cover and we only have two days left to do it."

Trucy sat beside the bed and held her father's hand gently.

"Mr. Edgeworth... has daddy woken up yet?" she asked as Miles turned his head towards her. He shrugged.

"He was barely conscious for a short time but he's all right nonetheless. After all, he had lost too much blood last night. I barely had much opportunity to ask him what happened last night. This ordeal was tough on him as well, he could barely talk much in his current condition. So I—_we_ shouldn't expect much help from him. Basically, we have to start everything from scratch."

"So, have you found out anything?" Appolo asked as Miles shrugged.

"I'm sure by now all of you knew that he called me that night. I thought earlier that it might be because my phone number was the first number in his phone list. But I was wrong. I've checked his phone records; he hadn't tried calling anyone else aside from me. I've thought about it. He mentioned that the case was not what it seemed and asked me to help out. He said nothing else. While we did talked about the case few day before this, I didn't recall him mentioning anything else worth attention."

Apollo frowned at this. Miles sighed.

"When he had been awake for a short time, I tried asking him about it. He told me that we've been looking at this case in the wrong light. The situation in this case was similar with another incident in the past, so perhaps we needed to first think about it from another perspective."

"Another... perspective?" Apollo asked as Miles shrugged.

"Perhaps by doing this, we could be able to figure what was wrong about this case and dig up the neccessary evidence to nail this case shut. I think he had several theories as to what might have been the case, but he was too tired by then. Guess we had to figure out the rest from this point on."

"What kind of theories did you mean by that?" Klavier asked as Miles cocked his head to the side.

"Perhaps it's best for us to talk more about this over a cup of warm tea. I'm famished. I bet you guys hadn't eaten yet as well since morning, right?"

Apollo blinked as his stomach readily made an agreeable noise. His face flushed red as Klavier laughed.

"It seems that your stomach was too eager to accept that suggestion... Herr _Forehead_," jeered the man again as Apollo frowned at him.

Miles smiled as he rose and walked towards Trucy.

"He'll be fine, don't you worry so much."

Trucy looked up towards him as she tried wiping her tears away.

"He said sorry if he made you worry."

Trucy perked up. "Did he say anything else? Something?" she asked hopefully as he shook his head.

"He knows that you could take care of yourself. As long as you stayed strong as you always did, he would not be worried about you. He wanted you to keep Apollo in check as always."

Trucy sighed before putting up her hardest effort to smile earnestly. "Well... that's so much like daddy. He always knows that I could take care of myself well." She shrugged. "Well, let's have our lunch. You do look tired, Mr. Edgeworth... and I'm sure is hungry right now!" exclaimed Trucy again as she took his hand and hopped off the chair. Miles smiled as he grabbed her hand before heading to the clinic's small cafeteria with the others.


	5. Chapter 4: Fast Development

az: Ngooooh, FFnet had such bad timing on their login time-out. Lucky I was editing Trial on Fire as well when transforming this chapter.

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><p><span>The Fiery Trial<span>

Chapter 4: Fast Development

by Izumi Ishtar alias izzu

o

o

"So... what was these theories you were saying earlier, Mr. Edgeworth?" Apollo asked as he sipped from his small cup of coffee.

Miles turned towards Trucy. "Trucy-dear, did you remember what your father had told you about me? He did said he had told you that story when I came for a visit the other day."

Trucy blinked. "Ah! You mean about the time he had to defend you from a murder accusation?"

Miles nodded as Apollo cut in. "Wait... what did you mean murder accusation?"

Franziska rolled her eyes at him. "Oh that one." She turned her attention towards Apollo to explain. "During the first year when Phoenix Wright made his debut, my little brother here was accused for taking the life of this one defense lawyer over at Lake Gourd."

Apollo looked up to her. "You seemed pretty acknowledgeble about that..."

"Of course she do," said Miles. "Her late father was the prosecutor of that time. Anyway... that time, things had been so confusing. The way the real murderer had done in order to pin the blame of the murder on me, had been so flawless that no other lawyer would dare to take the case to defend me. Not to mention the very fact that Manfred von Karma was taking the case scared the lot of them away. But that didn't stop Wright. Somehow he managed to turn things around and proved my innocence, as well for the other case where I'd long believed to be my fault. I guess he wanted to remind me about that case..."

"What did you mean by that?"

Miles snorted. "Well that time, I did something stupid. When the murderer pretended to be killed by me, the situation left me in a daze so much... that I've touched the murder weapon without thinking. That was why no one else would dare to take my case. Every single evidence had pointed towards me as the culprit, any other judge would have easily drop the guilty verdict on me. The fact that time I have been subjected with many other bad rumors did nothing but worsen the situation."

Apollo blinked. "That... was almost similar with Miss Gael's case!"

"You think so? Well in any case, the situation seemed to be pointing towards that kind of conclusion. Wright might as well confirmed his own suspicions that night when he was shot," Miles took a sip from his tea. "But even if we know about this, we'd still need to find the evidence to back this all up. Or else it would all be meaningless." Miles tapped his chin as he pondered about the sitation. "I suppose our only lead is the case itself. Perhaps we need to reinvestigate everything and hope we'll be able to find some new leads."

Apollo sighed.

"So, wha—how should you think we approach this case?"

Miles frowned at him as he put down his cup.

"What's wrong? You sounded unsure. Did something bothering you?" he asked as Apollo shrugged.

"It's... nothing. I'm just having those down moods. Are you sure I could really do this case good—?"

"Why won't you? You've been doing well these few months with your earlier cases. Why should this one be any different? Did Franziska do anything to make you feel inadequate?"

"Hey!" Franziska snapped as Miles grinned at her.

"You do tend to be too harsh on people, Franziska. You need to remember that not all people are like me and Wright... or even Larry, to be able to survive past your whips. Others might not be able to see past that unique kindness of yours..."

"Hmph!"

Apollo hastily interrupted him. "No... no, Miss von Karma was right. I'm still a rookie. There are still a lot of things that I have no experience in this field of work. I couldn't possibly—I mean, if Miss von Karma did not intervene when the judge about to give his verdict, the case would have been—"

"You can do it. You do have the same qualities as Wright did. You should be fine. You think Wright would let it stop him from helping people just because he lacked the experience? No. He stuck to his own beliefs and kept on doing the things he believed he could do. That should be the same for you!"

Franziska glared at him. "I should have given you a bit of lashing from my whip as well from the very start. Do you think I'm scolding you earlier to tell you to give up?"

He flinched. "Y-you... you didn't?" Apollo gasped in surprise as she snapped her whip once.

Miles sighed as he got up.

"You'd do fine, you just needed something to boost your confidence. Franziska, I'm getting something to eat on the go instead. I'm going back upstairs to gather the rest of the files I left and drive to the precinct to see what Detective Gumshoe and Ema had gathered. Want to join me?"

Franziska shrugged.

"Sure, I'm already involved after all. It doesn't hurt if I lend a hand or two even more. You can count on me," she said as she too, got up from her chair. Miles turned towards Trucy.

"Are you sure you'd be fine? I've called Miss Iris to come by since Maya and Pearl would not be able to leave Kurain for now. She won't be arriving until later in the evening though. If you want to stay beside Wright, it's better to wait for Miss Iris to come. I'd feel better if there's someone with you all the time."

Trucy gave him a weak smile.

"It's okay. I will stay with Polly for the time being. I still needed to point him to the right direction in this case. Will you call when Miss Iris have arrived?"

Miles smiled as he patted her head.

"Of course I will."

As the three of them watched the two leave, Klavier let out a long sigh.

"I guess I'm stuck with you guys as well. This sudden change in schedule left me free for these few days, I might as well help you guys with the case."

Apollo gave him a look of surprise.

"You? Helping us... why?"

Klavier just shrugged.

"Remember, I was originally part of the prosecution for this case. I am more acknowledgable than you about the details of this case apart from Herr Wright. I'm the best lead you have right now. I mean, even if the Gavinners have left the limelight, I still have my influence in the industry. If we should investigate the production company, it wouldn't be harmful to have an ex-rock star lending a hand to you."

"Besides... if the little fraulein here needs a ride back to the clinic, I could always lend a hand. But we need to get back to the courthouse to get my hog."

Apollo gave him a sarcastic look.

"You're kidding right? Us three... on your bike?"

Klavier laughed out loud suddenly as he smacked Apollo hard.

"What are you talking about? I'm only saying I'm taking the little fraulein on my bike. Who's taking you?"

Apollo felt a vein about to pop out of his head before he bit his lips to answer.

"Fine, I had my own _bike. _A normal one, without any engine spare my own legs," he said as he gritted his teeth.

The other man chuckled.

"...I'll try to use the _slowest_ speed possible so that we won't leave you too far behind then." he said as Apollo let out an irritated growl.

"Well, before we start moving we'd better decide what to do for now..."

xxx

"So that time... instead of trying to figure the case out when there was no other fresh clues, daddy and his assistant ended up investigating about Gourdy. Mr. Edgeworth scolded him for going off track but daddy kept on it and he did end up finding something helpful. It gave a new direction to the investigation. It lead him to clues about the man who tried to frame Mr. Edgeworth."

Klavier whistled. "So even if the trail you're following seemed to have no relation to the case, it might be leading you on the right track—is that what you're saying? Hmm... somehow this made me want to change my thoughts about Herr Wright. I never realize he was _that_ dedicated to find evidence that could help his client."

"Now you realize it... eh?" said Apollo smugly. "So... perhaps what Mr. Edgeworth meant about changing our perspective, is that we should look back to the leads we already had and look at it in a different light. Then perhaps we'd be able to find the clues we might have missed the first time around!"

"That's the spirit, Polly! I know you still had it in you!"

Klavier smiled. "I'm sure we will. If the case was not solved even with this many of us tackling it, we might as well drop ourselves out of existence."

"Whoa... you're really serious about helping I can't believe it is really you in front of me!"

Klavier fired a glance towards him.

"Herr Forehead... sarcasm is unbecoming of you. That aside, it's not that unthinkable for me to want to help you guys... and Herr Wright."

Apollo raised his hands in his defense.

"I was joking... I was joking!" he cried out as Trucy gave him a look.

"Joking is also not your good point, Polly. You're as funny as that uncle who used to crack bad jokes to Mr. Edgeworth so randomly."

Apollo whimpered. _So sorry I was not as skillful with my words as you guys!_

xxx

The red sports car took a sudden stop as the two occupants jumped out of the car. Miles locked his car as he and Franziska headed towards the Police Department building...

October 24, 3.40 PM, Criminal Afairs Department

"Detective Gumshoe! Any new development on the case so far?" asked Miles as soon as both of them entered the cramped office and caught sight of the scruffy detective.

"Ah, pal! I been wondering when y'all gonna come here! We've got a lead!"

"Oh really? Spill it out then, Scruffy!" said Franziska as Ema popped out from another cubicle.

"There's a match!" the plucky detective exclaimed as she handed them both of the reports. "The bullet that you've recovered from Mr. Wright matched the one we've taken out from the victim. It's a .40 calibre bullet with the same ballistic marking as the other bullet. There was high probability that the attacker was related to the current case!"

"Great! Now how about the burnt remains we found near the place?" asked Miles as Ema shrugged.

"It was nothing important, it was just a misdirection. I can't believe the officer in charge could really wave all of this to just a kid's prank!"

Miles shrugged. "Well, you can't always assume every case has to be related to murder. I guess we really have to reexamine every evidence and testimonies that we've gathered so far, or at least enough to push Mr. Justice towards the right direction. It was really his job to find his client innocent after all..."

Detective Gumshoe turned towards him. "So does that mean I have to go back to the Detention Centre to question the girl again?"

Miles nodded. "Of course. Get her to talk more about what happened that day, we could have missed something earlier. Ema, you're following me to have another look at the crime scene—"

Franziska shrugged. "I'll help with the questioning. It won't kill to have to hear her statement first-hand. It might even reduce the chance for us to make any mistakes and miss anything."

"So, that's settles it—"

"Mr. Edgeworth! Wait a sec." said Gumshoe as Miles turned to look at him.

"What—?"

The detective scratched his head. "Umm... Kay kinda dropped in earlier, so she sort of found out about this case. She asked if you needed any help."

Miles sighed. That kid still loves to barged into his business whenever she could. He thought about it. Evidence or the lack of it in this investigation... that was the main problem that they were facing. Even if the current system had already started the new jurist system with much success, they still needed something to convince the jurors to think the same way as they did. Still, he shouldn't be taking the easy route out.

"Detective... if you do see her again, just tell her to be alert and see if she hear anything useful. If there's any, then she should inform me about it. Aside from that, tell her not to do anything unlawful."

Gumshoe scratched his head. "Umm... I try telling her, pal. But it's not like she won't do it anyway even if I told her so."

Miles shook his head. "I won't help if she gets into trouble, that I assure you. I could always find ways to get the evidence and witnesses I need. Plus, we already had a lot of people on the case."

"Oh... all right then," said the detective before leaving. Franziska eyed the detective warily

"What's that all about?" she asked as Miles shrugged at her.

"It's nothing. Come... let me send you off to the Detention Centre. It's on my way after all and I guess Gumshoe already making the head start."

She turned to see the detective already left the place as she accepted the offer.


End file.
